(Tetun) In the period July 2013 to June 2014, around 41,000 farmers – on average 33% of all foodcrop farmers in Timor-Leste – were growing one or more MAF-released varieties, a recent Seeds of Life survey has found.

Results were drawn from interviews in August and September 2014 with 702 foodcrop farmers in 60 sucos across all 13 districts as part of the MAF-SoL Adoption Survey. (more…)

(Tetun) Due to concerns about near-El Niño conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) has advised farmers not to plant crops until the wet season has definitely started.

The official advisory was issued by the MAF Director General of Agriculture & Livestock, Januario Marcal, and distributed to MAF district offices and Radio and Television Timor-Leste (RTTL) late last week. (more…)

(Tetum) Seeds of Life (SoL) research showing that the average temperature in Timor-Leste has increased by 1°C and rainfall has dropped 19% since 1974 was presented at the 1st Climate Change Adaptation Conference in Dili this week.

The research finding that Timor-Leste is now hotter than in Portuguese times is based on an analysis of changes in temperature and rainfall between the periods 1954-1974 and 2004-2012. (more…)

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(Tetum) With the maize planting season just around the corner, farming families will soon be choosing which varieties to grow this 2014-15 cropping season.

Here’s eight reasons why farming families love growing Sele and Noi Mutin, the two more productive maize varieties released by the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries in 2007 and 2012 respectively.
(more…)